70. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Harvey Wallbanger

Phil and Jake are joined by friend-of-the-pod and fandom specialist Melissa B. to rank Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the mixed drink known as the Harvey Wallbanger on the List of Every Damn Thing.

Check out Melissa’s reviews on the Comic News Insider podcast, find her on Instagram, and follow her work on Can the Replicator Make This? and Outside ComicCon.

If you have something to add to the list, email it to [email protected] (or get at us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook).

SHOW NOTES:

• Melissa is also on the Board of Directors of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, and we talk a bit about racing at the beginning of the episode. 
• Pixar’s Cars remains the thing Phil is most prepared to talk about. Why are there military vehicles in this world? Why are there ambulances for that matter? Why school buses? 
• Phil mentions a scene in the Brave Little Toaster where appliances at a junkyard sing a sad song. This page from Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel also makes him sad.
• We discuss a number of other Star Trek properties, including the movies, as well as Star Trek: The Original Series, Deep Space Nine, Lower Decks and Picard.
• Of course we talk about the Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball game, which comes in second place on the Internet Pinball Database list of Top 300 Electronic Pinball Machines.
• “Darmok” is Phil's favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (although he's only seen a few). It's about understanding people and learning how to listen. It's kind of like the thinking man's version of the episode from Star Trek: The Original Series where Kirk fights a lizard man (and you can see cars on the highway in the background). 
• The SF Chronicle’s little man dates all the way back to the 1940s!
• Sir Patrick Stewart is the true star of Star Trek: the Next Generation. When he's not on screen Phil & Jake immediately lose interest.
• Phil’s feelings towards Data probably aren’t going to date well. 
• In related news, Sophia the android (who, of course, you can follow on twitter) probably wouldn’t enjoy our episode on the uncanny valley effect very much (because she’s a robot and can’t experience enjoyment).
• Because the episode wouldn’t be complete without it, we do mention both the Borg and the character of Q (no relation to QAnon).
• There are channels on YouTube of just ambient starship background noise. Here's one of the ship from Star Trek: the Next Generation.
• In Star Trek: TNG the crew of the ship sometimes go into a virtual reality type room for training or recreation, called the Holodeck. They solve mysteries as Sherlock Holmes, etc… whatever they have wardrobe and sets for at Paramount. Phil doesn't like it because the whole point of watching a TV show about travelling through space would presumably be to see people traveling through space. If he wanted to see a Sherlock Holmes-based TV show he'd watch one of those.
• Melissa has some real issues with the TNG episode “Sub Rosa” in which Dr. Crusher falls in love with her dead grandmother’s candle ghost lover.
• We mention the character Geordi La Forge, who was born without sight but futuristic technology allows him to see.
• Phil's wonderful wife Beth mentioned that Deanna Troi's hair is not her real hair. This is the latest in a series of outrages along the lines of when she told him that Kiefer Sutherland is wearing a wig in the Lost Boys (which is partially true) and that Lynda Carter's butt was padded in Wonder Woman.
• Jake tried out the Harvey Wallbanger at Whitechapel, a London-themed steampunk-adjacent gin-centric cocktail bar in San Francisco.
• One of us claims that Galliano-- the liquor most known for its use in the Harvey Wallbanger-- is also used to make a Sex On the Beach, but afterwords we couldn’t find any recipes supporting that claim.

ALSO DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
Free Guy * Star Wars * The Matrix * Batman: The Animated Series * The Three Stooges * The Golden Girls * Sambuca * cold brew shandy *